What is a Personal Trainer

Being a personal trainer is often a choice born from a passion for fitness and helping others. It’s a unique career choice is many ways, but incredibly satisfying for most. There is the added benefit of keeping in good physical shape and blend a passion with a career.

Continue and learn everything you need to know on how to become a personal trainer presented in 3 simple steps.

There is a lot more to the role of a personal trainer than just keeping your own fitness level high and training clients. You need to keep up-to-date with nutritional information, manage paperwork, and be able to motivate others.

What Does a Personal Trainer Do?

Personal trainers work one-on-one with client’s to motivate them to achieve a higher state of fitness, and educate them in fitness and safety. This can be strength gaining goals, weight loss, fitness levels, and training someone for competitions. Being able to motivate people is a huge part of this role, it’s motivation that often keeps people from achieving their personal fitness goals.

The career has been well documented and featured on various TV shows and it’s common knowledge that the rich and famous have their own personal trainers. This has made the role more desirable in recent years and increased the amount of freelance personal trainers.

Whether you work freelance, or for a company, the roles are very similar. There will be more organizing and marketing involved with a freelance role. While working as part of a team in a gym means you will work under a management hierarchy.

Being such a personable role with a lot of face-to-face interaction it’s not a career choice that suits everyone who enjoys fitness. There are some desirable skills that translate really well into becoming a successful personal trainer, these are as follows:

A Good Motivator

Motivating clients is a key part of the role. Showing someone how to use fitness machines and what they need to do is the easy part. Being able to push the client to carry out the hard work is often the challenging part.

Excellent People Skills

Along the same lines as being able to motivate people you also need to have excellent people skills. People are your business, so keeping people happy and delivering a good service directly to them is vital.

Knowledge and Understanding of the Human Body

There is a lot of studying that goes into understanding the human body before becoming a qualified personal trainer. There is always an emphasis on safety. Knowing how to train properly is one of the first things a personal trainer learns.

Good Organizational Skills

Organizing your daily routine and fitting in clients, organizing their workout plans, and organizing all the paperwork and day-to-day running of the gym or facility where you work is important to keep the wheels turning smoothly. Being a good organizer will help you get everything in order quicker and with less room for error.

Becoming a Personal Trainer

Step 1: High School Requirements

High School Courses for Personal Trainers

Science classes

Classes like chemistry biology and physics all incorporate concepts that are very useful in a personal training career. Studying these courses will make you understand how human body works and how an exercise will affect a certain muscle group and why. At last but not least getting good grades to these classes will help you get accepted to the university you want.

Physical Education Classes

Aspiring personal trainers should not just participate but excel in physical education classes. A lot of physical education classes include lessons about human wellness and health that are really useful for personal trainers. Also a personal trainer should be in great shape if you want your clients to trust you as you will be the proof that your exercise programs actually work and can help them achieve their goals.

Anatomy or Medicine Classes

Anatomy and medicine classes are not available at every high school but if your school offers these classes don’t miss the chance and take them. These classes will not only help you get a more in depth understanding of human body functions but will also prepare you for your college coursework.

Step 2: Get Official Training

Personal Trainer Certificate Program 1 year

Personal trainer certificate programs provide the educational background to the students who want to follow a career as personal trainers. The curriculum consists of courses that analyze basic body functions and exercises to train the body. They are 1 year programs and consist of 24 to 30 semester credit hours. The admission requirements are a high school diploma or a GED and a CPR certification.

Curriculum

Core Courses (25 credits)

Human Biology

Science of Personal Health

Nutrition Science

Foundations of Exercise

Introduction to Sport Management

Theory and Practice of Weight Training

Introduction to Biomechanics

Exercise, Testing and Prescription

Sport & Exercise Science Practicum

Principles of Effective Speaking

Electives (3 credits)

Drug and Alcohol Education

Culture and Food

Athletic Training Techniques

Sport Specific Rehabilitation and Training

Selected Team and Recreation Sports

Water Safety Instructor

Principles of Coaching

Sport and Exercise Psychology

Sociology of Sport

Facilities Management

Special Topics in Physical Education

Health Psychology

The cost of a personal trainer certificate program is $3,390 -- $9,728.

Associate Degree in Advanced Personal Training and Exercise Science Degree Program 2 years

These degrees are designed to supply the students with all the necessary skills they need in order to enter successfully the field of fitness. They also are a solid foundation for future study to the bachelor’s degree level. They are 2 year programs and consist of 64 to 95 semester credit hours. The admission requirements are a high school diploma or a GED and CPR certificate.

Curriculum

English I

English II

College Mathematics

Anatomy & Physiology I

Anatomy & Physiology II

Medical Terminology

Health & Safety Techniques

Career Development

Personal Psychology

Holistic Therapies

Myology

Kinesiology

Business for Somatic Practices

Introduction to Personal Training

Personal Training I

Personal Training II

Training Program Design

Nutrition for Weight Management & Physical Activity

Exercise Physiology

Exercise Psychology

Special Populations

Personal Trainer Exam Review

Personal Training Internship

Advanced Training Concepts

Research in Health & Movement

The cost of a personal trainer associate’s degree program is $16,650 -- $34,020.

Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science 4 years

While there are no bachelor’s degree in personal training for those who want to advance their education, bachelor of science in exercise science is the most relevant degree they can pursue. These 4 year degrees consist of 120 to 130 semester credit hours. The admission requirements are a high school diploma or a GED with a GPA of at least 2.75 and a CPR certification.

Curriculum

General Education Requirements (72 credits)

English Literature or Composition

College Algebra or Pre-calculus

Public Speaking

General Biology (with lab)

General Psychology

Natural Sciences

Arts and Humanities

Social Sciences

General Chemistry

Introduction to Nutrition

Core Courses (87 credits)

Organic Chemistry for Life Sciences,

Anatomy/Physiology 1

Interdisciplinary Experiences in Natural Health Arts/Sciences

Physical Activity and Wellness

Cultural Perspectives on Food

Living Anatomy

Anatomy/Physiology 2

Biochemistry for Life Sciences 1

Nutrition Throughout Life

Introduction to the Scientific Method

Anatomy/Physiology 3

Biochemistry for Life Sciences 2

Learning and Development

Business Principles in Health Promotion

Whole Foods Production

Physiology of Exercise

Sports Nutrition

Principles of Resistance Training

Advanced Nutrition Principles I

Exercise Science Laboratory Techniques

Introduction to Research Methods

Advanced Nutrition Principles

Biomechanics

Psychology of Sport and Exercise

The cost of a personal trainer bachelor’s degree program is $88,000 -- $148,888.

Step 3: Get Certified

There are several professional associations offering certification for personal trainers like the American Council on Exercise, the American College of Sports medicine and the International Sport Sciences Association. The most common requirements for certification are a CPR certification and the completion of an accredited training program.

American Council on Exercise

Requirements

Be at least 18 years old

Hold a high school diploma

Hold an AED and CPR certification

Examination

Three hours test consisted of 125 multiple choice questions

Cost: $499

American College of Sports Medicine

Requirements

Be at least 18 years old

Hold a high school diploma

Hold an AED and CPR certification

Examination

Three hours test consisted of 125 multiple choice questions

Cost: $279 (non-members) -- $219 (members)

How Long Does it Take to Become a Personal Trainer and How Much Does it Cost?

Personal Trainer Training Video

Noel Griffith is a Doctor of Philosophy with a strong interest in educational research. He has been an editor-in-chief of CareersWiki.com since 2014. Noel is an avid reader (non-fiction), enjoys good food, live theatre, and helping others make wiser career decisions.